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Mannheim

The Mannheim clarinet is one of the Chinese made clarinets that are now flooding the US market.

This clarinet seems identical to

Lauren

This one came in for repair to the local store.Serial: NC 3417xxBore: 14:85mmBarrel: 62mm.

The
key work is made of soft metal. A student who plays one of these should
take careful note of the keys while assembling and disassembling.

Testing using Portnoy BP02 mouthpiece and Legere 4 reed.

High register

Vito66mm barrel in all the way

Mannheim pulled 2 mm with barrel ring

Mannheim pulled 1mm with no ring

F

+5

-20 to -15

-20 (0 if add Rt F ring finger key)

E

+9

0

0

D

+11

0

0

C

+13

-10 to -5

-4 to 0

B

+13

0

0

A

+10

-5 to 0

-5 to 0

Middle of treble clef

G

+6

0 to +4

+4

F

+5

0

0

E

+8

0

0

D

0

+10

+10

C

+8

0

0

B

+8

+6 +13

+10

Throat tones

Bflat

+12 to +18

+9

+8 to 0

A

+10

+4

0

G

0

0

0

F

0

0

0

E

0

0

+4 to 0

Chalumeau

D

+8

+10 to 5

+10

C

0

+15 to 10

+20

Bflat

0

+14 to 20

+20

A

+20

+10 to 20

+13

G

+3

+20

+24

F

+2

0

0

E

+7

+13

Summary
of the intonation: The intonation is quite good. The main problem will
be the fiercely sharp chalumeau register. This clarinet will also seem
quite flat in the upper register when compared to other instruments,
and especially other clarinets. This is because nearly all other
instruments play sharp in the upper register.

I don't recommend
these Chinese brands for any level of player. They will have zero
resale value. They will quickly need repair, but some shops will not
service them.

The springs of this instrument seem to be rather flimsy.

A
bigger problem is that there is plastic flashing that was left over
from the molding process on the lower edge of tone holes. This will
make a big difference in intonation.

Update: Today, when
working on a Lauren clarinet that must have been made by the same
maker, I found that this is not flashing left over from molding. The
joint is made without the tone holes, and the tone holes are inserts
that are glued in. I just tried to fix a Lauren where the tone hole
inserts had come out. The band director tried to glue them in, but
didn't get them inserted far enough down. The result is that the horn
is unplayable because it leaks in the cracks between the inserts and
the hole. I am recommending they use this horn for a lamp.

This
instrument comes with an adjustable thumb rest that seems modeled on
the West German plastic horns. The screw on this particular model keeps
coming loose.

The side keys are modeled after Vito/Leblanc, with four posts for the four keys.

I
wonder if this is the same factory that makes the Ridenour in China.
Clearly they have some good plans and dimensions. The key weaknesses
seem to be

Soft key work

Very sharp chalemeau register

Possible unpredictable intonation because of plastic flashing left at the lower end of tone holes.